The Tempests
by Shadow of the Dragons
Summary: A group of racers who'll race anytime, anywhere, and with anything are invited to go into a whole new world. Along the way, familial bonds will be brought to light, bonds will be tested, and love just might happen to be found as they race their way through a world unlike any others. *Note: being rewritten.*
1. Chapter 1

**It's another Hot Wheels fic. (I've gotta stop coming up with ideas for them.) This stars a different team completely who race in the Realms: the Tempest Angels.**

**Team Stats.**

**Name: Tempest Angels**  
**Drivers: Six**  
**Leader: Quetzalia Maracho**  
**Second in command: Tessa Rouge**  
**Mechanic: Roxy Falls**  
**Drivers: Katarina Anderson, Zelda Hylia, Skyla Raven**  
**Ages: 17-21**

**Driver Stats**

**Name: Quetzalia Maracho**  
**Nickname: Zalia, Lia, Quetza**  
**Position: Leader**  
**Age: 21**  
**Ethnicity: Brazilian, Puerto Rican, Bolivian, Venezuelan, and hints of Argentinian, Peruvian, Mexican, Honduran, Incan, Aztec, and Mayan blood. (Basically, she's South and Central American, or a Latina.)**  
**Eyes: Jade Green**  
**Hair: Black/Dark Brown**  
**Drives: A Car named Quetzalcoatl Tempest, a hover board named Fallen Angel**  
**Notable Family: Kurt Wylde and Mark Wylde (Half Brothers)**  
**Attitude: She's logical and smart, yet a creative leader and a brilliant tactician and strategist**

**Name: Tessa Rouge**  
**Nicknames: Tess, Rouge**  
**Position: Second in Command/First Lieutenant**  
**Age: 20**  
**Ethnicity: Persian, Middle Eastern**  
**Eyes: Blackish Gray**  
**Hair: Brown**  
**Drives: A Motorcycle named Sand Storm**  
**Attitude: the calm and collected one of the group**

**Name: Roxy Falls**  
**Nickname: Fox, Foxy, Foxy-Roxy (Which she hates!)**  
**Position: Mechanic**  
**Age: 19**  
**Ethnicity: Japanese**  
**Eyes: Hazel-ish amber color with slited pupils**  
**Hair: Black with a blood red streak on the right side**  
**Drives: A four wheel drive truck named Winged Kitsune**  
**Attitude: Roxy is the ditzy girl of the group.**

**Name: Katarina Anderson**  
**Nickname: Cat**  
**Position: Driver**  
**Age: 19**  
**Ethnicity: Native American, Chinese**  
**Eyes: Red (Originally brown)**  
**Hair: Black/Brown**  
**Drives: A monster truck called Lightning Strike, and another Monster truck called Girl uva Digger**  
**Attitude: She's Spunky and the life of a party. Somehow she can make anyone laugh.**

**Name: Zelda Hylia**  
**Nicknames: Zel (Which is only used when the other girls are stressed out about something), Princess**  
**Position: Driver**  
**Age: 18**  
**Ethnicity: Russian**  
**Hair: Black**  
**Eyes: Purple**  
**Drives: A motorcycle named Legend Tempest, a pair of hover skates called the Linked Angel,**  
**Attitude: A whole mix of them. She's probably the one most likely to pick a fight.**

**Name: Skyla Raven**  
**Nicknames: Sky, Raven**  
**Position: Driver**  
**Age: 17**  
**Ethnicity: German, French, American**  
**Eyes: Crystal Ocean Blue**  
**Hair: Golden Blonde with an orange streak in her bangs**  
**Drives: a car named Tempest Maelstrom**  
**Attitude: She's the Naïve one, due to her age.**

**Okay, Disclaimer.**

**I do not own Monster Jam or Hot Wheels Acceleracers!**

**On with the fic**

**Chapter 1: Race time**

* * *

It was late at night; really really late. The beach below them was quiet, the blackness above them only pierced by the thin watery light of the stars and the moon. Clouds could be seen on the distant horizon; promising rain for the next morning. All in all it was a peaceful night.

That is, if you could ignore the flashing multicolored lights and the low key yet still blaring techno music coming from a white truck. It wasn't a party, not this late at night when all the semi sane people were in bed.

Then again, illegal street racers weren't exactly the sanest on the planet. Most people wouldn't recognize the racers standing around. Two of the people who did were currently racing down the road towards the event in beat up cars, looking out for the guy in the middle of the road.

"Looks like the Teku and Monkey are already here, eh Taro?" The African in the second car said. Up ahead of him, Taro shrugged.

"So it seems, Tork." He replied. The Asian driver was a man of few words. A few seconds more, and they would reach the showdown.

"It's a good thing Pork Chop isn't here." Tork decided. "I'm not sure if that Teku would still be alive by the end of the evening."

"Probably not." Taro muttered, recalling past encounters between his teammate and Shirako, that music junkie on the other team. Usually it involved Pork Chop yelling at the Asian to turn his music down; which resulted in Shirako laughing and turning it up. More than a few times, Pork Chop had almost lost it. Thankfully, he hadn't yet; but that Teku had no idea how lucky he was to still be on the planet right now.

Sighing, he shook his head to clear it and stepped on the accelerator.

* * *

At the showdown, the members of the Teku were currently watching an argument.

"I know the coast road better than anybody, Nolo." A blonde surfer was saying. Nolo, a Latino of about 19, laughed. This seemed to upset the surfer. "Dude, I used to come out here surfing before I could drive!"

"Whatever, man." Nolo replied. "I was driving before I could drive." The surfer, a boy named Vert Wheeler, scowled, while the two other Teku; Kurt Wylde and Karma Eiss watched nervously.

"What does that even mean?" Vert wondered. Nolo rolled his eyes before scowling.

"Remember who's the Teku Leader!" he snapped. A few people looked over at the fight, but were quickly distracted when Taro drove up. Nolo glanced his way for a moment before redirecting his attention to the argument. "This is my race, Vert." he said heatedly. "Stay outta it!" then he stalked over to his car, SpecTyte.

"He's only the leader because of his brother!" Vert muttered before stalking off in the opposite direction to his Deora II. Karma rolled her eyes, amazed at how men could act when their machoness was challenged, while the fifth Teku member, Shirako Takamoto, was oblivious to the entire scene and continued to listen to his music. Kurt groaned.

"It's Nolo's call who races!" he reminded Vert.

"Hey!" the drivers looked over to see that Taro had climbed out of his car. When he was sure he had their attention, he continued. "Are you Teku here to race, or to fight?"

Nolo looked like he was going to argue with the driver – lord knows how he got when he was in a bad mood – but before he could open his mouth, another car drove up and Tork got out. Nolo immediately glared at the burly African, who glared right back. Taro watched them for a moment before shrugging and moving his car off the road.

* * *

A lone car sped up the twisting road, going at least twice the speed limit of 35 MPH. inside was a heavily muscled man with one arm covered in a black flame tattoo, and eyes hidden behind mirrored shades. He smirked as he recalled a conversation that had taken place a while back.

He had been arguing with Kurt Wylde, and he said that Kurt wasn't his older brother anymore; and that he was scrap, like all of Teku. Kurt hadn't seemed to like this, and called him Markie while laying a hand on his shoulder.

So Markie had punched his brother in the face before telling him that his name was Wylde. That was one satisfying punch! They hadn't spoken civilly to each other ever since. That was six months ago. His rage had only grown. And he was especially angry when he learned that the Metal Maniacs were taking on the Teku and Tork hadn't told him about it.

Pressing on the gas, he sped up, determined to reach the race.

* * *

(Earlier that evening…)

In the abandoned lot, one car and one truck were sitting on their wheels. Their owners, two girls, were also there.

One, a girl of Southern American and Latina descent, was sitting on the front hatch of her car, one foot propped on the hood, the other idly dangling down. One hand was resting on the hood, the other resting on her knee and supporting her cheek. Her eyes were closed.

The other was leaning against the truck, which resembled a Chevy Avalanche. This one was Japanese in appearance, with straight black hair and amber eyes that had slited pupils. She looked extremely ticked as she checked a phone before groaning.

"What's taking Tess so long anyway?" she muttered. The other girl lazily opened one eye, regarding the other girl.

"Just sit down and relax. Chill, Fox." Fox did not appear to like this.

"She was supposed to be hear twenty minutes ago, Lia."

"I'm sure she just got hung up somewhere; probably at work." Lia replied. "She'll be here."

"I wish the others were still in town." Fox muttered unhappily before leaning back against the truck. "We sure had a lot more fun back then."

Lia rolled her eyes before closing them again. Although Fox did have a point; it was awfully lonesome and boring around here now that the gang was split up. Cat was off on the circuit, Zelda was off working in LA for some hotshot company as a test driver, and Sky had been forcibly moved to Palm Beach by her family. All in all, the closest of them was 19 hours away.

Just then a motorcycle drove up. It's driver got off and propped it up on a kickstand before removing the helmet they wore, revealing a girl of middle-eastern descent. It was as if a Persian princess had come to life and was wearing modern clothes.

"Sorry I'm late," She said as she walked over to the others.

"What took you so long?" Fox whined. "I was dying of boredom."

"No you weren't." Lia replied. "Because if you had died, I wouldn't have gotten a pounding headache listening to you complain. You should've drank something besides that can of Red Bull."

"Sorry, but I was thirsty!" Fox argued. "And it's not my fault that stuff gives you energy."

"Sounds like a real adventure." The Persian girl said. "But seriously, I'm sorry I'm late. I was held up by an engine cleaning at work. Some rookie didn't remember how to do it, so I had to reteach him _again_."

"Don't mention it, Tess." Lia said. "Despite what Foxy-Roxy would tell you, it wasn't that bad."

"My name's not Foxy-Roxy! It's Roxy!" Fox said angrily. "If you're going to call me something else, call me by my nicknames, Fox or Foxy!"

"Chill Fox." Tess said. "We're just teasing you."

"Now that we're all here, what are we going to do tonight?" Lia asked.

"This is where I redeem myself." Tess replied. "Tonight at 11pm at the Coast Road, there's gonna be a showdown between the Teku and the Metal Maniacs. Races always attract other gangs; perhaps we can score a race tonight there."

…

That was why the three of them were running their vehicles up the coast road, heading for the lights in the distance. In the lead was Lia, with Tess behind her, and then Roxy.

"IT'S FOX!" Roxy yelled.

"We know, Roxy." Tess said. "You like being called Fox. No need to yell our heads off."

"So stop calling me Foxy-Roxy already!" Fox whined. "It makes me sound like I'm 3 years old!"

"Okay Foxy-Roxy!"

"IT'S FOX!"

"Break it up, you two." Lia cut in. "Looks like the race is up ahead. Time to act professional."

"Gotcha, Boss." Fox said, calming down considerably. Tess rolled her eyes. It was incredible the way Fox could jump from one emotion to another like that. Confirming with her leader that she as good to go, the trio sped up to get to the race.

…

Both the Teku and the Metal Maniacs looked up as the vehicles came whizzing around the bend and came to a sudden stop in the mini parking lot. Two girls got out of the cars while a third climbed off the bike.

"Yo!" Shirako said to them, all the while bobbing to the beat of the music. A few of the other drivers walked over, curious as to who the newcomers might be.

"Who're you?" Vert asked, his scowl momentarily disappearing.

"Lia, Tess, and Fox." Lia replied while gesturing to the other girls as she spoke. "We heard there was a race."

"And you're here because…?" Kurt asked.

"We're racers as well." Tess answered. "We were hoping to score ourselves a race tonight."

"You three are racers?" Tork asked skeptically.

"Yeah we are. Why, is there a problem with that?" Fox snapped.

"No." Taro replied in an attempt to calm the girl down.

"Chill, Fox." Lia said with a grin. Fox rolled her eyes but appeared to calm down considerably. "At any rate," Lia continued. "We were hoping for a race, but it looks like we're the only gang besides yours to show up. Ah well, no biggie. Might as well watch the race since we're here."

* * *

**And, done. Also, I have a teaser for another fic that I am writing, Meet the Siblings.**

* * *

Gelorum laughed at him, and her eyes glowed green for a few seconds. Then a door opened, and into the room walked…

"Terra?" the shocked man muttered. Sure enough, it was the missing girl. The whole reason he had come here. But she looked so different. Green glowing wiring was laced up and down her left arm and disappeared underneath her sleeve. More showed beneath rips on her left leg, and snaked up onto her neck, left check, and part of her forehead. Terra stopped next to and slightly behind Gelorum. Her eyes were glassy.

"What are your orders?" She asked in a flat, monotone, robotic voice. Each word was like a knife in the heart to the Maniac.

"Eliminate him. Then come see me." Gelorum said.

"Understood." The half roboticized girl replied. Gelorum smiled and left. Terra immediately transferred her gaze to the other occupant of the room.

"What…What did they do to you?" he asked. Terra smirked.

"They made me stronger." She said. Her quarries eye's widened fractionally. Terra smirked again, and before he knew it, she was behind him.

"Faster too." She said triumphantly. "Father always liked you best. I think it's time to see who's really the better one among us!"

"I'm not going to fight you, Terra." The Maniac argued. Terra frowned.

"I think you will!" she yelled and punched him in the face. The force sent him staggering back a few steps, partially because he wasn't expecting it. Terra followed up on her advantage, raining more blows upon him until he fell to the floor.

"Stop this nonsense and get up!" Terra yelled. "Fight me, Taro!"

* * *

**And, done! Just who is Terra? Why does she have such a grudge against Taro? And how did she get caught by the drones? All these questions and more will be answered in Meet the Siblings. As always, please read and review.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2: Race time**

**Guest: Here's more of the story to read for you**

**raven: I'm glad you like the story, and yes I do plan on finishing it.**

**Raven: By all means, get an account. What I've found is that even if you don't have an idea what to write about, you usually get one pretty quickly. And from what it sounds like, you already have ideas. I would love to read them. If you do end up getting one, send me a PM so I can read the stories you write!**

**I own nothing!**

* * *

Tork and Nolo were both on the road, waiting for Monkey to get a portable starting light working. So far, nothing, not even after he had resorted to kicking it a few times.

"You know, it might be a good idea to reconnect the wire that fell out of place, and replace the wire that broke." Fox said. "That should fix it."

Monkey frowned, but opened up the compartment that had all the inner workings of the machine. Sure enough, one wire had fallen out of place, and another one broken. And sure enough, when he fixed both mistakes, and then tried turning it on again, it worked. The Teku and the Metal Maniacs both stared at Fox in shock.

"How'd you…?" Monkey said flabbergasted.

"I've always been good with engines." Fox replied. "And just an FYI, you might want to tell the kid driving the orange car to check his spark plugs soon. The third one on the right is getting a little loose."

The Teku all looked at each other, then Nolo shrugged and propped open Synkro's hood. Sure enough, the third spark plug on the right was getting loose. He quickly fixed the mistake and closed the hood.

"Okay, that's impossible." Karma said. Fox shrugged and jumped up so she was sitting on the hood of her truck. She produced a set of headphones out from somewhere and pulled them on, before closing her eyes.

"That was a little freaky." Vert muttered. Fox opened an eye, apparently having heard them.

"I almost forgot." She said. "When the guy that's coming this way at twice the speed limit arrives, make sure he checks his gear box. The way he's taking those corners cannot be good for it." And with that, she closed her eyes again.

"Okay, what is up with her?" Kurt demanded.

"If we knew, we would tell you." Tess replied. "Fox just has this strange ability to sense exactly what's wrong with cars, and sometimes a few other things, without even looking for a problem. It's gotten us out of more than a few crashes."

"It's a real gift alright" Lia added, looking over towards the girl on the truck. "She must've been blessed by someone to get it."

"You mean like-?"

"I don't want to offend anyone, so I'm going to leave that statement ambiguously vague." Lia explained, interrupting Monkey.

Just them, Wylde came tearing around the bend, and stopped with a squeal of tires.

"Why didn't you tell me we were taking on the Teku?" He demanded.

"Me against Nolo." Tork replied. "That's how we're having it." He began to drive away, and stopped. "Oh, yeah, you should probably check your gear box." And with that, he pulled away. Wylde scowled, and pulled his car off the road, where he parked it next to Taro's.

"Don't forget to change the oil the next time you're near a garage." Fox piped up.

"Oh, be quiet." Wylde muttered irratibly. "What do you know about fixing cars anyway?"

"Enough to know that you're getting low on oil, and should probably change it, and that you should probably replace your gear box because you busted it taking those corners way to wide, and that you need to re-inflate the back tire on the left side because the air pressure levels in it dropped slightly, and that you should probably invest in a new set of spark plugs in the not so distant future." She replied with a straight face.

Wylde looked at her like she had grown a second head. Taro sighed.

"Trust her Wylde. She knows what she's talking about." The Asian chided. Wylde frowned, but checked the oil, and the gear box, and the pressure in the back left tire, and the spark plugs. And sure enough, the oil was getting low, and needed to be changed, the gear box was busted, the air pressure in the back left tire had dropped, and he really did need to buy a new set of spark plugs soon.

His jaw dropped, and he looked over at the skinny girl in shock. "H-how did you…?" He was so shocked that he couldn't even finish his sentence. It was quite amusing, actually. One rarely saw the Maniac's resident loose cannon flustered.

"Told ya." Fox muttered.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever Foxy-Roxy." Tess said. Fox angrily ripped her headphones off and pinned Tess with a glare.

"My name is Fox!" She snapped.

"Chill, Fox." Lia said. "And Tess, I thought you promised to behave."

"Sorry." Tess muttered, a lopsided grin on her face. Fox waited until Lia had turned back around and stuck her tongue out at Tess, who rolled her eyes.

"Fox." Lia said warningly. Fox assumed a look of innocence quickly, before sticking her headphones back on her head and closing her eyes. But Lia turned to look at her. "I need to speak to you for a minute."

Fox sighed and got off the hood of the truck, before following Lia over to a dark corner of the lot. From their body language it looked like they were having a heated discussion.

"I really need to remind Lia that letting Fox drink energy drinks is a bad idea." Tess muttered. "Scratch that, anything with caffeine."

"Yo, what's up with her?" Shirako asked.

"Can I change that to what's up with the three of you?" Vert wondered, resulting in glares from Kurt and Karma. The surfer shrugged, a confused look on his face as he took in the angry expressions on his teammate's faces. The blonde was not known for his tactfulness when it came to speaking.

"Well, see, the six of us are kind of like a family." Tess started off.

"Six?" Taro interrupted.

"Yeah, the other three are off doing their own thing right now." Tess said. "But if we need them, they'll drop everything and come help. But right now it's just me, Lia, and Fox. We're kind of like a pseudo-family. Lia's the leader, and the oldest. She's also got this weird ability to sense what the rest of us are doing, like when she knew that Fox had stuck her tongue out at me. It's 'cause she knows us so well. The downside of her being the oldest is that she also can sometimes feel responsible for things that are out of her control."

"Why'd Fox act so immature? And how come you called her Foxy-Roxy?" Karma queried.

"Her real name is actually Roxy." Tess said with a small laugh. "Fox is just a nickname. Foxy-Roxy is just what we call her when we want to annoy her. As for her acting immature, well, that's a combination of two things. The first thing is that she's hopped up on Red Bull. The second thing is that she's still really young. She's only 17, and that's only by a few weeks. Despite that fact, she's a gifted mechanic, even before you add her special gift too."

"What about you?" Monkey said hesitantly.

"What about me?" Tess said. "Well, there's nothing really important to say about me."

"She's lying." Lia said as she walked back over with Fox. The 17 year old appeared to have calmed down significantly. "She's second in command, in charge if anything happens to little ol' me. She's also the one to usually break up a fight. That doesn't mean that she doesn't have a streak of mischief in her, though. And sometimes, she's the one that needs to be reigned in."

"Oh, come on! " Tess said. "Don't I get a free pass on April Fool's day or something?"

"No." Lia replied, although there was a twinkle in her eyes as she spoke. It was obvious that she was only joking around.

Just then, an outraged cry from Monkey filled the air. "WHAT DO YOU MEAN THERE WAS AN ACCIDENT? I THOUGHT YOU HAD THE ROAD BLOCKED OFF?"

Everyone looked towards the Maniac, surprised that the boy was capable of such outrage. However, Monkey wasn't done.

"WHAT? NO RACE? DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA HOW LONG WE'VE BEEN WAITING?"

More words from the person on the other end of the radio, and then Monkey hung up, an uncharacteristically angry and disappointed look on his face.

"Some idiot decided to run his car off the road." He said a touch of anger lacing his voice. "He's stuck on a ledge, and it's going to be a long time before they can get him back up. No race tonight, the police said they would block off the road another time for us to race."

None of them questioned the fact that the police knew about this race. But one of the few people who had turned up to watch the race frowned. "Why're the police involved?" He asked.

"A few years ago, the police and the racing teams grew frustrated over different, yet related things. The racers were frustrated that it was hard to find places suitable for races, and as a result did illegal racing on the roads. The police were frustrated by the number of accidents, deaths, and destruction said illegal races caused. Eventually, the racing teams all got together, and elected a few different racers to meet with the police." Lia replied.

"They hashed out an agreement: Certain nights are designated as racing nights now. All a racing team has to do is fill out a form at the station saying who's going to be racing, where the race is, and when. The police then block off the road. It made the teams happy because now they had a better place to race, and it made the officers happy because it cut down on the number of illegal races and accidents related to the races. Granted, a lot of illegal street races still happen, but not nearly as much as there was a few years ago." Tess added.

"How do you two know so much about the agreement?" Karma asked.

"The three of us were part of the group that went to the negotiation with the police." Fox said. "It's been five years since then. Part of the agreement was a onetime offer for me to check out the entire squadron of emergency response vehicles for flaws and mistakes. You wouldn't believe how many problems I found."

"You three were some of the masterminds behind that deal?" Nolo wondered.

"Of course we were." Lia said. "Tone was part of the group as well, so was Tork." Here she paused and looked over to the Maniac. "You haven't changed a lot." Then she turned to Nolo, "And I'm sorry to hear about your brother. He was a great racer."

Nolo looked down at the ground, different emotions warring in his eyes.

"Well, we don't have any reason to stick around tonight." Tork said from where he was still sitting in his car. He shut the door and drove away. Nolo and Shirako quickly followed suit, and also left. The other random people that had also showed up to see the race also left in disappointment. No race tonight. What a bummer.

Soon it was just Lia, Tess, Fox, Karma, Kurt, Vert, Wylde, Taro, and Monkey. It seemed that there was no reason for them to stick around.

"Hello."

"AH!" Monkey screamed in fright. The other drivers looked around, confused.

"Who said that?" Karma asked. The other drivers frowned, though some of their looks were more of a puzzled one than a confused one.

They got their answer soon enough. A grey robot, tiny and somewhat misshapen with an overlarge head and short stubby arms, flew into the lights of the cars. A little grey robot that was oddly familiar to some of the drivers.

Vert opened his mouth to speak, but someone else beat him to it.

"Gig?" Fox asked.

* * *

**Surprise surprise! Fox knows Gig!**

**Leave me a review, please!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter three: Time to go**

**I own nothing!**

* * *

"It's been a while, Roxy." Gig said. Fox scowled.

"Two things. One, my name is Fox. And two, what the heck does the old man want now? I thought I told him that I wasn't interested."

"Wait, how do you know Gig?" Vert demanded. Fox, Lia, and Tess all looked down.

* * *

Flashback

* * *

"Why the heck am I so different?" The girl whimpered as she sat on the roof. "Why am I strange?" Here she paused and raised a tear stained face to look at her hands. "What's wrong with me?" She wondered.

"I could help you figure that out."

The girl looked around, frowning, before standing up. "W-who's there?" She demanded, adopting a defensive stance. Her pretty hazel eyes darted around, searching the night; and the already cat-like pupils became mere slits.

She didn't have long to wait. A tiny grey robot flew out of the darkened sky and hovered in the air before her.

"Who're you?" The girl demanded.

"I am X-88 Gig." Gig replied. "I have a message for you from Dr. Tezla, Roxy." Roxy scowled.

"Two things. First off, my name isn't Roxy, its Fox. And second of all, who the heck is Dr. Tezla? He's not the dude that did my yearly check-ups."

"Dr. Tezla is president and founder of the Scrim Corporation." Gig explained. If he was hoping for a reaction, the little robot was sadly disappointed when Roxy gave him a blank look.

"And that matters why?" She asked.

"Dr. Tezla has access to advanced technology, technology that has not been released to the public." Gig elaborated. "He has also heard about you and your gift. He would like to meet you, and perhaps you would be willing to explain and demonstrate your, ah, special talents."

Hurt and rage flashed through Roxy's eyes. "Well here's his answer. One massive fat almighty NO!"

Gig flew back a few feet, as if the girl's words had some sort of driving force behind them. But the girl wasn't done yet.

"I hate it! Every time someone wants something to do with me, it has to do with my curse." She yelled bitterly. "Why do people look at me like I'm nothing without my curse! It's everyone; the people on the streets, the rest of my family, and now your boss! Tell him that I don't want his help, and not to bug me again!"

"As you wish." Gig said. And with that, the little robot flew away.

* * *

End Flashback

* * *

The girls all knew about that night. Roxy had left the roof of that house – it wasn't hers, she hadn't lived in her own house for years – and traveled along the road in the freezing cold. She had eventually passed out from hypothermia. The rest of the Tempests, all five of them, had found her freezing to death and brought her back inside. Roxy had woken up to a new family; one that didn't judge her based only on her talent. And slowly and surely, Roxy began to view her gift less as a curse, and more as a gift that brought her to a new family. Even now, the Tempest House as they called it, was her permanat home, along with Tess and Lia. Kat, and Zelda lived there when they were in the area as well. Sky was still living at home with her parents, but most days you could find her at the Tempest House.

Those had been the best days of all of their lives. But it all came to an end a few years ago. Sky's mother had forced her to move with the family to the north parts of the California coast, a long car trip away. Zelda had been working from home for a company in LA, and had received a promotion. But the promotion meant that she had to go to company headquarters. She hadn't wanted to go.

It took Tess and Kat tying her down – and Lia impersonating her on the phone – to get her to agree. Yes, gentle persuasion certainly worked. Roxy had cracked up over it, but was still sad when the older girl left.

Then Kat left too. The adopted great-times-who-knows-how-many granddaughter of the long dead monster truck racer Dennis Anderson, she drove the truck Girl uva Digger on the circuit. She'd be going back to the Diggers Dungeon, the two and a half century base of operations for the Andersons.

She wasn't the only Anderson driving. Twins Albert and Andrew drove Twin Diggers, Anthony drove a rebuilt Son uva Digger, their father Mike drove Grave Digger. Grave Digger the Legend was driven by cousin Dylan, Grave Digger Millennial was the proud vehicle of Kyle. Lady Digger was the chosen ride of their mother, Maria. Crazy cousin Melanie drove Grave Robber, and her sister Nellie drove Grave Thief. But none were as good as Katarina Anderson, driver of Girl uva Digger.

It was just the three of them now, and they were still tight. But they also missed the other Angels, and they were waiting for the day when the six of them were going to be racing as a group again.

"Hello, anyone in there?" Fox asked, waving a hand in front of Lia's face. "Earth to Lia! Earth to Lia! Do you read me, Lia?"

"Huh? What is it, Fox?" She asked, shaken out of her thoughts.

"I was asking what you thought." The younger girl said.

"About what?" The lead Angel asked.

"About this supposed race we've been invited to." Tess replied. "Or where you lost in your own little world again?"

"I'm never lost." Lia said in a voice that would have convinced anyone else that it was true, but the other Angels knew meant that she hadn't paid any attention at all. "And the way I see it, a race is a race. Life's too boring around here anyway without the others here. A race might spice things up a little."

"Alright! What're we waiting for? C'mon, let's go!" Fox said eagerly, darting over to her car.

"Um, maybe the fact that we haven't packed yet." Tess asked, a note of reason in her voice.

"Oh, yeah…" Fox replied, coming to a screeching halt and frowning. Then she shook her head. "Well, I don't know about the rest of you, but I'm leaving. Last one to the race is a slowpoke!"

* * *

**Ah, the joys of being young and hopped up on Red Bull. Hopefully Fox calms down a little by the time I write the next chapter.**

**Leave reviews, please!**


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